numan
concept of
lht than a
sh would
wonder the
otion of
after.
Too busy to tan out
doors, college fresh
man Lezlie Brackett
spares 20 minutes to
soak up ultraviolet
light at Darque Tan
in Austin, Texas.
Dermatologists warn
that prolonged, un
protected exposure
to UV rays greatly
increases the likeli
hood of skin cancer.
Covering up, how
ever, holds no appeal
for sun worshipers
on spring break in
Cancun, Mexico.
IHE POWER OF LIGHT
The sky is blue because the molecules in the air scatter blue light more
readily than they scatter red, orange, yellow, and green. We see distant
mountains through a mass of blue sky-hence the Blue Ridge and
(thanks to poetic license) "purple mountain majesties."
L AS VEGAS IS A MULTITUDE OF COLORS-a place that takes light
seriously and can't seem to emit enough of it. The Strip is more
dazzling by the year. The casinos no longer advertise them
selves with mere neon-lit roadside marquees but rather have
turned their entire structures into eyeball-popping orgies of
illumination. "Now the whole building is a sign," says longtime sign
dealer Ken Moultray.
The entirety of the MGM Grand glows emerald. Fiber optics pulse
light to the tower of the Stratosphere. The vertical neon stripes adorning
the Rio are visible from distant mountains.
The Luxor Resort and Casino is a pyramid and, perversely, remains
almost entirely dark at night, a massive black presence dramatically
highlighted by the golden glass of the Mandalay Bay Resort next door.
Instead of dressing itself in countless little bulbs or immersing itself in
floodlights, the Luxor aims its Sky Beam-said to be the brightest light
on the planet-straight into space.
I followed John Lichtsteiner, technical manager of rides and attrac
tions at the Luxor, up three metal ladders onto the catwalk at the pyra
mid's peak to see the 39 xenon lamps, 7,000 watts each, that create the
Sky Beam. A sign warns that the lights, each about the size of a washing
machine, are "extremely volatile" and can explode if jarred or bumped.
Lichtsteiner explained that before a computer turns on the Sky Beam
each night, strobe lights flash for 30 seconds. "We don't want to surprise
any pilots," he said.
He pressed a button on a digital console to illuminate one of the
lamps. Its light was so bright that when I put my notebook into the
beam, I had to look away quickly. My pen strokes vanished, and all I
could see was a rectangle of blinding white light.
We climbed above the lamps to the very tip of the pyramid. Vegas
sprawled for miles in every direction. In the daytime the place is rather